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DECISION No.355-TTg OF MAY 28, 1997 ON THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE GOVERNMENT STEERING COMMITTEE FOR OVERALL REVISION AND SYSTEMIZATION OF LEGAL DOCUMENTS

THE PRIME MINISTER

Pursuant to the Law on Organization of the Government of September 30, 1992;

Pursuant to the Law on the Promulgation of Legal Documents of November 12, 1996;

To put the work of revising and systemizing legal documents into order and on a regular basis and to perform the task of the overall revision of legal documents in two years 1997 and 1998;

At the proposals of the Minister of Justice and the Minister-Director of the Office of the Government,

DECIDES:

Article 1.- To set up the Government Steering Committee for Overall Revision and Systemization of Legal Documents, composed of the following members:

1. The Minister of Justice, as the Chairman;

2. A Deputy Director of the Office of the Government, as the Vice Chairman;

3. A Vice Minister of the Interior, as member;

4. A Vice Minister of Finance, as member;

5. A Vice-Chairman of the Government Commission on Organization and Personnel, as member;

The Chairman of the Steering Committee shall invite leading officials of the Office of the National Assembly, the Office of the State President, the Supreme People�s Court and the Supreme People�s Procuracy to participate in the Government Steering Committee.

The Government Steering Committee shall be assisted by a group of specialists to be decided by the Committee; the Committee�s office is placed at the Ministry of Justice.

Article 2.- The Government Steering Committee for Overall Revision and Systemization of Legal Documents shall have the following tasks and powers:

1. To organize training courses and provide professional guidances on the revision and systemization of legal documents for the ministries, branches and localities;

2. To urge and inspect the implementation of the plan on overall revision and systemization of legal documents promulgated by the Prime Minister together with this Decision and periodically report to the Prime Minister;

3. To sum up and process results of the overall revision conducted by the ministries, branches and localities so as to report to the Prime Minister;

4. To decide the publication of the overall contents, the collection work and selection of legal documents.

To direct the publication of systemized volumes of legal documents issued by the ministries, branches and localities.

Article 3.- The Ministers, the Heads of the miniterial-level agencies and the agencies attached to the Government, the Presidents of the People�s Committees of the provinces and cities directly under the Central Government shall have to organize the overall revision and systemization of legal documents in accordance with the Prime Minister�s plan attached to this Decision.

Article 4.- The fund for the overall revision and systemization of legal documents conducted by the Government Steering Committee shall be supplied by the State budget.

The Ministry of Finance shall coordinate with the Ministry of Justice and the Office of the Government in determining, guiding and inspecting the use of this fund.

Article 5.- The Ministers, the Heads of the ministerial-level agencies, the Heads of the agencies attached to the Government, the Presidents of the People�s Committees of the provinces and cities directly under the Central Government and members of the Government Steering Committee for Overall Revision and Systemization of Legal Documents shall have to implement this Decision.

For the Prime Minister

Deputy Prime Minister

PHAN VAN KHAI

PLAN ON THE OVERALL REVISION AND SYSTEMIZATION OF LEGAL DOCUMENTS IN 1997-1998
(attached to Decision No.355-TTg of May 28, 1997 of the Prime Minister)

On November 12, 1996, the XIth National Assembly at its 11th session passed the Law on the Promulgation of Legal Documents. Article 8 of the said Law stipulates: "The State agencies shall, within the scope of their tasks and powers, have to regularly revise and periordically systemize the legal documents; when detecting an illegal, contradictory or overlapping provision or any provision which is no longer suitable to the situation of national development, they shall either by themselves or recommend a competent State agency to make timely amendments, supplements or replacements, or to annul or suspend its implementation". To put the work of revising and systemizing legal documents into order as prescribed by law, the Prime Minister has ratified the following plan on the overall revision and systemization of legal documents:

I. ON THE SCOPE AND TYPES OF LEGAL DOCUMENTS TO BE REVISED

1. Under the Law on the Promulgation of Legal Documents, legal documents to be revised inlude:

- Laws and Resolutions passed by the National Assembly;

- Ordinances and Resolutions of the National Assembly Standing Committee;

- Orders and Decisions of the State President;

- Resolutions and Decrees of the Government; Decisions and Directives of the Prime Minister;

- Decisions, Directives and Circulars of the Ministers, the Heads of the ministerial-level agencies and the agencies attached to the Government;

- Resolutions and Circulars jointly issued by the competent State agencies and socio-political organizations;

- Resolutions of the People�s Councils of the provinces and cities directly under the Central Government;

- Decisions and Directives of the People�s Committees of the provinces and cities directly under the Central Government.

In their executive activities, the ministries, branches and localities also promulgate documents in other forms such as: annoucement, plan, official dispatch...that contain legal provisions. Therefore, all legal provisions which have been promulgated in the above-mentioned forms of document and are currently in force must also be revised this time.

2. Regarding the time of promulgation of legal documents to be revised: Legal documents to be revised shall be those which were promulgated from after July 2, 1976 to the end of December 31, 1996.

II. OBJECTIVES, TASKS OF THE OVERALL REVISION AND SYSTEMIZATION OF LEGAL DOCUMENTS

1. Objectives of the overall revision:

- To detect legal documents which are contradictory, overlapping, contrary to the provisions of the Constitution, laws and ordinances or which have been promulgated ultra vires during the period from July 2, 1976 to the end of December 31, 1996 for handling by competent agencies or making lists of legal documents to be proposed to the competent State agencies for annulment, amendment or supplement;

- To draw up and make public lists of legal documents, publish systemized volumes of currently effective legal documents for unified application in the whole country and in each locality.

2. Tasks of the overall revision:

To the above-said ends, the ministries, the ministerial-level agencies, the agencies attached to the Government and the People�s Committees of the provinces and cities directly under the Central Government (hereafter referred commonly to as the ministries, branches and localities) shall, within the ambit of their functions, tasks and powers, organize the revision and processing of legal documents according to their competence and make lists of legal documents to be sent to the Government Steering Committee for Overall Revision and Systemization of Legal Documents.

a/ The ministries, the ministerial-level agencies and the agencies attached to the Government shall have:

- To make full lists of legal documents promulgated from after July 2, 1976 to the end of December 31, 1996 regarding branches or fields under the charge of the ministries, the ministerial-level agencies and the agencies attached to the Government (Laws and Resolutions of the National Assembly; Ordinances and Resolutions of the National Assembly Standing Committee; Orders and Decisions of the State President; Resolutions and Decrees of the Government; Decisions and Directives of the Prime Minister; Decisions, Directives and Circulars of the Ministers, the ministerial-level agencies and the agencies attached to the Government; Joint Circulars of the ministries, the ministerial-level agencies and the agencies attached to the Government; Joint Circulars of the Supreme People�s Court and the Supreme People�s Procuracy or the central bodies of socio-political organizations;

Due to changes in the functions, tasks and organizational structure of the ministries, the ministerial-level agencies and the agencies attached to the Government (the splitting or merger of the ministries and branches), it is necessary to specify in the lists those legal documents which stipulate issues previously under the charge of some ministries or branches but now under the charge of the others.

- To make lists of legal documents which are no longer effective and have been annulled or replaced;

- To make lists of legal documents which are still effective;

- To make lists of currently effective legal documents which contain provisions that need to be amended, supplemented or annulled;

- To make lists of legal documents issued ultra vires;

b/ The People�s Committees of the provinces and cities directly under the Central Government shall have:

- To make full lists of legal documents issued by the People�s Committees of the provinces and cities directly under the Central Government from after July 2, 1976 to the end of December 31, 1996.

With regard to newly splitted provinces or cities, the lists must specify clearly those legal documents which have been applied to the old provinces or cities and now still apply to the new provinces or cities as well as legal documents which have been issued by the new People�s Councils or People�s Committees.

- To make lists of legal documents which were issued by the People�s Councils or People�s Committees of the provinces and cities directly under the Central Government and are no longer effective and have been annulled or replaced.

- To make lists of legal documents issued by the People�s Councils or People�s Committees of the provinces and cities directly under the Central Government which remain effective.

- To make lists of legal documents issued by the higher-level State agencies (the National Assembly, the National Assembly Standing Committee, the State President, the Prime Minister, the ministries, the ministerial-level agencies and the agencies attached to the Government) which, through the process of their implementation in the localities, are deemed no longer suitable and should be proposed for amendment, supplement or annulment.

c/ The Government Steering Committee for Overall Revision and Systemization of Legal Documents shall have:

1. To sum-up and readjust lists of legal documents made and sent to it by the ministries, branches and People�s Committees of the provinces and cities directly under the Central Government. Depending on the lists of legal documents, the Steering Committee shall organize seminars to collect comments of the related agencies and socio-political organizations and make lists of legal documents to be submitted to the Government for processing according to its competence or for processing by the competent agencies at the request of the Government.

Such lists include:

- Lists of legal documents which are no longer effective and have been annulled or replaced;

- Lists of currently effective legal documents issued by the National Assembly, the National Assembly Standing Committee, the State President, the Government and the Prime Minister.

2. To coordinate with the Supreme People�s Court and the Supreme People�s Procuracy in revising and systemizing legal documents that fall under the functions, tasks and powers of the Supreme People�s Court and the Supreme People�s Procuracy as well as legal documents issued by the Supreme People�s Court and the Supreme People�s Procuracy.

3. To consider and decide the printing and publication of the overall contents, the collection work and selection of legal documents; to direct the ministries, branches and localities in publishing systemized volumes of legal documents issued by such ministries, branches and localities.

III. ON ORGANIZATION AND IMPLEMENTATION TIMETABLE

1. On organization of implementation:

a/ Each ministry, ministerial-level agency or agency attached to the Government shall set up a Steering Board for overall revision of legal documents issued by such ministry or branch with the Minister or a Vice Minister as the Head and the Head of the Legal Department as the standing Deputy Head (in agencies where a Legal Department has not been set up, the Director of the Ministry�s Office shall be the standing Deputy Head). The Steering Board is assisted by a group of specialists from the Legal Department and units attached to the ministry or branch.

b/ The People�s Committee of each province or city directly under the Central Government shall set up a Steering Board for overall revision of legal documents with the President of the People�s Committee of such province or city as the Head and the Director of the provincial/municipal Justice Service as the standing Deputy Head. The Steering Board is assisted by a group of specialists from the Justice Service and the Office of the People�s Committee of each province or city directly under the Central Government.

c/ Decisions on the establishment of the Steering Boards for overall revision of legal documents of the ministries, branches and People�s Committees of the provinces and cities directly under the Central Government and the plans on the overall revision elaborated by such ministries, branches and localities must be sent to the Prime Minister and the Government Steering Committee before June 15, 1997 (the Ministry of Justice, 25A Cat Linh, Hanoi).

2. On the implementation timetable: To ensure that the overall revision and readjustment of legal documents be conducted promptly, accurately and fruitfully, the ministries, branches and localities must comply with the following timetable:

- From June 15, 1997 to August 15, 1997, the Government Steering Committee shall organize a professional training course on the revision and systemization of legal documents for cadres of the ministries, branches and localities who take charge of the revision and systemization of legal documents.

- From Semptember 1997 to December 1997, the ministries, branches and localities shall gather and make full lists of legal documents under their charge, which were promulgated from after July 2, 1976 to the end of December 31, 1996.

- From December 12, 1997 to June 1998, the ministries, branches and localities shall conduct the revision, make lists of legal documents to be supplemented, amended or annulled and lists of legal documents to be proposed to the competent State agencies for amendment, supplement, annulment or replacement and send them to the Government Steering Committee before June 30, 1998.

- From July 1998 to August 1998, the ministries, branches and localities shall complete lists of currently effective legal documents within their scope of management.

- From September 1998 to December 1998, the Government Steering Committee for Overall Revision and Systemization of Legal Documents shall make the sum-up and readjustment and draw up the plan for the printing and publication of the systemized volumes of currently effective legal documents and report the results to the Prime Minister.

- In June 1997, the Ministry of Justice shall make an estimate of expenditures for the overall revision of legal documents according to the contents and the implementation timetable in 1997 and 1998 and shall take initiative in coordinating with the Ministry of Finance in the implementation of Article 4 of Decision No.355-TTg of May 28, 1997.

The ministries, the ministerial-level agencies, the agencies attached to the Government, the People�s Committes of the provinces and cities directly under the Central Government shall have to organize the implementation of this plan and every three months report to the Prime Minister and the Government Steering Commitee for Overall Revision and Systemization of Legal Documents (to address: 25A, Cat Linh, Hanoi).

For the Prime Minister

Deputy Prime Minister

PHAN VAN KHAI